---
title: "Ollama-Compatible API"
metatags:
    description: "SGLang provides Ollama API compatibility, allowing you to use the Ollama CLI and Python library with SGLang as the inference backend."
---
SGLang provides Ollama API compatibility, allowing you to use the Ollama CLI and Python library with SGLang as the inference backend.

## Prerequisites

<CodeGroup>
```bash Command
# Install the Ollama Python library (for Python client usage)
pip install ollama
```
</CodeGroup>

<Note>You don't need the Ollama server installed - SGLang acts as the backend. You only need the `ollama` CLI or Python library as the client.</Note>

## Endpoints

<table style={{width: "100%", borderCollapse: "collapse", tableLayout: "fixed"}}>
  <colgroup>
    <col style={{width: "34%"}} />
    <col style={{width: "33%"}} />
    <col style={{width: "33%"}} />
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr style={{borderBottom: "2px solid #d55816"}}>
      <th style={{textAlign: "left", padding: "10px 12px", fontWeight: 700, whiteSpace: "nowrap", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Endpoint</th>
      <th style={{textAlign: "left", padding: "10px 12px", fontWeight: 700, whiteSpace: "nowrap", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>Method</th>
      <th style={{textAlign: "left", padding: "10px 12px", fontWeight: 700, whiteSpace: "nowrap", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Description</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>`/`</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>GET, HEAD</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Health check for Ollama CLI</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>`/api/tags`</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>GET</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>List available models</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>`/api/chat`</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>POST</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Chat completions (streaming & non-streaming)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>`/api/generate`</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>POST</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Text generation (streaming & non-streaming)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>`/api/show`</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>POST</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Model information</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

## Quick Start

### 1. Launch SGLang Server

<CodeGroup>
```bash Command
python -m sglang.launch_server \
    --model Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct \
    --port 30001 \
    --host 0.0.0.0
```
</CodeGroup>

<Note>The model name used with `ollama run` must match exactly what you passed to `--model`.</Note>

### 2. Use Ollama CLI

<CodeGroup>
```bash Command
# List available models
OLLAMA_HOST=http://localhost:30001 ollama list

# Interactive chat
OLLAMA_HOST=http://localhost:30001 ollama run "Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct"
```
</CodeGroup>

If connecting to a remote server behind a firewall:

<CodeGroup>
```bash Command
# SSH tunnel
ssh -L 30001:localhost:30001 user@gpu-server -N &

# Then use Ollama CLI as above
OLLAMA_HOST=http://localhost:30001 ollama list
```
</CodeGroup>

### 3. Use Ollama Python Library

```python Example
import ollama

client = ollama.Client(host='http://localhost:30001')

# Non-streaming
response = client.chat(
    model='Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct',
    messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Hello!'}]
)
print(response['message']['content'])

# Streaming
stream = client.chat(
    model='Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct',
    messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Tell me a story'}],
    stream=True
)
for chunk in stream:
    print(chunk['message']['content'], end='', flush=True)
```

## Smart Router

For intelligent routing between local Ollama (fast) and remote SGLang (powerful) using an LLM judge, see the [Smart Router documentation](https://github.com/sgl-project/sglang/blob/main/python/sglang/srt/entrypoints/ollama/README).

## Summary

<table style={{width: "100%", borderCollapse: "collapse", tableLayout: "fixed"}}>
  <colgroup>
    <col style={{width: "50%"}} />
    <col style={{width: "50%"}} />
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr style={{borderBottom: "2px solid #d55816"}}>
      <th style={{textAlign: "left", padding: "10px 12px", fontWeight: 700, whiteSpace: "nowrap", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>Component</th>
      <th style={{textAlign: "left", padding: "10px 12px", fontWeight: 700, whiteSpace: "nowrap", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>Purpose</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>**Ollama API**</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>Familiar CLI/API that developers already know</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>**SGLang Backend**</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>High-performance inference engine</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", fontWeight: 500, backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.02)"}}>**Smart Router**</td>
      <td style={{padding: "9px 12px", backgroundColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.05)"}}>Intelligent routing - fast local for simple tasks, powerful remote for complex tasks</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
